Hundred White Nights
by Lullaby of Hearts
Summary: Yamanaka Ino lost his memories in a car crash. In his attempt to regain them he enters a new high-school with just one aim - to find a girl named Nara Shikamari. His world is turned upside down when another person from his past comes to find him and Ino is caught up in the whirlpool of secrets and things he yet has to understand. Torn between love and duty, what will he chose?


_**AN:** Huge thanks to my beta-reader The Clawed Butterfly - thank you, you are doing a wonderful job :D_

**_In this story all the characters are gender-bent. But I will try to make them believable :)_**

_**Various pairings will be included, but the main one is ShikaIno, and the biggest side-pairings are NejiTen and DeiSaku. Side-pairings also include SasuHina/NaruHina and ShikaTema.**  
_

_Enjoy!_

~O~

Hundred White Nights

Chapter 1: Midnight Sun

~O~

His eyes collided with brilliance of diamonds scintillating on the window's sill. Mesmerized by the sight, he relished the play of light, colors scattering - children of sprinkle and sunlight, glistening in a spectra of rich heavenly colors as the wheat tinted rays quivered and danced. In their triumph they died, becoming one with the heavy ground.

He stretched a pale hand in hope to feel them against his skin, but was forbidden by the thin glass, their firm guardian.

Droplets - Cho named them this morning as she came to visit, chattering about spring and autumn, rain and sunlight, things he yet has to see. With each irritating munch Cho's chubby self-made he felt anxiety burn within him - a spark about to burst in greedy flames, yet it remained somewhere at the brink of death, far out of life's reach. Buried...along with his memories.

Sometimes he would see the light and hear the painful whining of brakes as he clashed with someone, followed by a moment of silence in which his heart was about to explode. And it ended in the cacophony of glass shattering and metal scraping. Over and over - always the same.

They said he was alone - and under their breaths he would hear them whisper about his loneliness, how they pitied him and what a shame it was for a man as handsome as him. _Such a horrible world_, they chanted, _such a horrible world_.

Tinny, metallic scent tickled his nostrils, seducing them. Single trickle of blood slid down his hand, from the spot where nails dug into pale flesh and down his fingers in delicate crimson waves.

It was baritone voice that sealed it away.

His eyes met the tall, slender figure of a man in his 30s, with a gentle smile cast on his lips.

"Yamanaka Ino?"he read from the paper in his hand, questioning himself more than the blonde man standing at his way. Young man's eyes ran over him, scanning his white robes and carefree face - a new one here, he concluded, for he had seen and known every living doctor in this place, his mind interested them, left most of them in awe. However, they never returned - like no one ever came for him.

"How are you feeling today?"

Blonde boy glanced at the magic playing at the window before meeting with the doctor's steady gaze. Bemused, Yamanaka gazed into the emerald pools of the man's soul, wondering, searching for words, feelings. Was it the truth he wanted to hear? Fears suddenly crept up his spine making him shiver like a fallen leaf. He studied the man for a second more, before deciding that loneliness was not an option.

"No difference. Same as yesterday." Same as every other day. He heard the rustling of papers as the man rapidly searched for 'Yamanaka', spilling dozen's of them on the floor. Ino's eyes rested on nameless numbers without a reason, imagining faces, thinking up stories, families...Each one of them has a family - thought pained him.

Upon finding the file, he held it as if those that laid before his legs did not matter - Ino softly cursed him.

Jabbering crept through the open doors, banishing silence and thus blonde man's comfort. He sighed, to compose himself.

"You still claim you don't remember anything?" The doctor asked whilst still looking at the written words, his brow wrinkled and gaze focused as if there was a hidden meaning behind every dot and comma, every letter carefully written. There was unavoidable seriousness in his tone that sought the answer, cornering Yamanaka. However, blonde man felt nothing, just a slight tension in the air. He breathed it in.

"Nothing."Ino uttered in a stoic voice, scanning the man. "Entirely nothing."

Man nodded, absently, overhearing his patient's displeased snort. "It says here"he began again. "that you've been here for three weeks and yet nothing has changed." He raised his head, locking their eyes for a fraction of second. "Is that correct?"

"It is."Ino utters, reluctantly. "Everything written in there is true - just a look at me can confirm it."

He 'hmphed' before closing the file. "There has to be at least a little something you remember."he stated. "Have you ever tried to remember anything during your stay here?"

Ino's expression stiffed - newcomers sure were annoying. "They made me read my diary, watch my baby pictures and study my school diplomas. Is there anything else I should have done?"

Man pursed his lips. "Did they ever, I don't know, retell you some funny event or anything that changed your life drastically?"

"Does a car accident count?"he spat, watching the doctor frown. By the resentful look on his face Ino grasped the fact he had crossed the line.

"I never did anything meaningful in my life."he said quickly. "Cho, my...friend who comes here every morning, claims not much was known about my life. He said I just appeared one day, a rich, model-like kid who refused to talk about himself. Instead, I preferred to talk with the ladies, in any possible way. She introduced me to every classmate I had, yet, there is not a single face I remember. Just a sound of glass breaking and a sea of blood."

Gleam of pity flashed in the emerald orbs. Ino gave a small smile.

"That is a very serious condition."he said. "I'm sorry to hear that."

He chuckled. "Everyone says so. No one helps."

"Can you, perhaps, remember something else? Some meaningful words or a person you haven't been close to but has left an impact on you?"

Ino shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "There is nothing. It's as if I was born right then and there, when they revived me."

The doctor arched a delicate brown eyebrow. "So you have experienced clinical death?"he uttered to no one in particular. "Is there someone you saw on the so-called, 'other side'? Or anything you heard?"

"I remember nothing, just a veil of eerie darkness."he answered. "However, I was told there was a name I muttered as I woke."

"A name?"

"A name."Ino repeated, nonchalantly. "Shikamari."

"Shikamari..."

"Nara Shikamari."he ended his sentence. "A name unknown to me."

The doctor studied him, lost in the train of thoughts. Ino could follow their birth just by looking at his eyes.

"Does your friend know who she is?"

Ino smiled bitterly. "Cho was asked about her zillion times. She said that girl, Shikamari, was our childhood friend. She moved away the same summer I met them, Cho claims she never saw her or heard from her since then."

"Was she your love interest from that time? What did Cho say about her?"

"He doesn't remember much about her, no one does." He glanced towards the window, drinking in the scarce rays of sun. Wreath of autumn tinted gold crowned his head. "However, Cho said she was a famous shogi player's daughter, a champion of that time. Her parents often argued, but loved none the less. It was his father's profession that forced them to move away. She said it was a real miracle I remembered her name."

His expression showed no agreement. "She must have meant something to you, even if just for a short period of time. Either you miss her or you regret something you did that involves her. Did Cho say something about your relationship with her?"

Uneasiness built up inside him, consuming every muscle, every organ he had. His legs ached as he fought to resist the dreary urge to either fall to his knees or run, run from everything, run from patterns of memories that haunted him. Soon, it turned to ache. Yamanaka Ino grimaced as oval moons of serene blue met the binding gaze of forest green - silver liquor threatened to spill.

Firm hand was placed onto his shoulder, easing him. It smelled of ink and medicines and distant memories. Ino swallowed a lump.

"It was turbulent. We fought a lot. But...Cho said...We loved each other, dearly. I-I don't know...I can't remember..."his lips moved on their own. "I don't know..."he gasped, feeling ashamed.

The doctor smiled as if sensing his thoughts. "Weakness is nothing to be afraid of - those who aren't ashamed to show their feelings win, whilst those who value pride over heart lose."

Ino shook off his hand. "I don't know how this can help me."he hissed.

"I know a way."

He jerked as if slapped.

"What does that mean?"he uttered in a single breath. "Tell me."

"In order to regain your memories"man began as he bowed to collect the scattered papers. "You need to find the one you remember. Shikamari Nara...is the key."

He barely sustained himself from bursting a torrent of curses at the man.

"How can I look for someone whom I don't even know?!"he shouted. "I don't know how she looks, where she lives...I don't know who she is!"

Man ignored his words. "I am sorry, Yamanaka-san."he uttered in the calmest tone he could, angering an already furious boy. "But Nara Shikamari is your only chance."

Broken laughter arose in the air like a thousand feathers gone with the wind.

Hundred miles away, glass erupted in crystals, painting woman's hands red.

~O~

**_AN: _**_I hope you enjoyed it guys! Your opinions are appreciated, please, let me know what you think :P_

**_Next chapter: Transparent shadow _******


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